Lanzarote

by J.H. Wallace

In the repressive religious environment of Lanzarote in the early 1700s, Milagro, young, beautiful and naive, is the target of every man who sees her, including her wealthy stepfather. But when she lets herself be seduced by the handsome outland fisherman, Felipe, she learns how cruel life can be. Fleeing her mother's oppressive home to bear Felipe's child, she bravely endures a life of hardship and exile. Then this life, too, is torn apart. Volcanic eruptions ravage Lanzarote, destroying families, livestock, homes and the land itself. Driven by fear, need and her own volatile nature, desperate to protect her young son, Milagro is caught in a vortex as destructive as the scorching streams of lava that have ravaged the island. This intense story of the dark underside of human nature confronted with the devastating effect of natural disaster paints a compelling picture that is very relevant in today's world."

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Lanzarote Book]

Milagro is young, beautiful and rebellious. She feels stifled in the repressive atmosphere of a small town on the island of Lanzarote in the early 1700s. Men can't keep their hands off her, but she rebuffs them all, until she meets Felipe, a young Guanche fisherman (the Guanches were the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the Spaniards invaded in the 15th century. With Felipe everything feels different and she lets him seduce her, then runs off to be with him when she falls pregnant with his child. It's downhill from there on - already an outcast from the middle class society she was born into, her life, like that of every other islander, is brought to ruins by the volcanic eruptions which devastate the island. Milagro survives, but her survival is such that one feels that death might have been the better option.
This graphic, moving, and ultimately cathartic novel impressed me no end. You feel for Milagro but you are infuriated by her ability to make all the wrong decisions. Characters, scenes, the violence of the volcanic eruptions are all drawn with graphic power. The narrative has an almost sickening pace as one disaster follows another, before the final, peaceful resolution.
But there is an interesting conceptual framework underlying the novel - the contrast between the rural superstition and religious dogma which govern the lives of the islanders, and the scientific rationalism represented by the visiting vulcanologist who tries to make sense of the events years afterwards. An original book, well worth reading.

[Justin]

The descriptions take you right there onto the island of Lanzarote amid the smoke and flames, and the inhabitants for whom hell-fire has become a reality.

As they flee from calamity, Milagro and Felipe must face the earth-shattering consequences of their ultimately unwise decisions.

An extremely graphic account of how people can keep going even in the face of the most severe hardship. In spite of the grimness of the story, the beauty of the sea and nature shines through: 'the sea calm and dull as pewter, slapping gently at the rocks.'

I enjoyed it a lot.

[Seana Farrington]

This is set in a very interesting period of the island's history. I haven't read any eyewitness accounts, but I feel Wallace wrote about the eruptions very well.

As well as the "violence" of nature, her descriptions of the violence meted on Milagro were raw and difficult to read, as they should be.

I hope to read more by K H Wallace.